"Today we have 'impossible' Star Trek tech in our pockets. "
We have a fairly believable simulation of star trek in our pockets. But communicators didn't need any infrastructure to span thousands of miles, even through solid rock. We've got a long way to go before that happens.
All you guys who are sitting in university labs, toiling away at yet another flexible, printable, super-cheap solar panel technology need to get out and actually bring something to market. I don't care who you work with (keep in mind British Petroleum is one of the largest producers of solar panels), how it's done, in fact none of the details impress me at this point. Just get something out the frickin' door! I'll celebrate when I can buy a roll of your solar panel material at the Home Depot (or at sparkfun.com) and spend the weekend screwing it to the side of my house. Until then, you don't have anything interesting. I've been hearing about these things for the last 20 years and we're still using expensive and fragile monocrystalline panels.
Oh, and you guys in the tech media: Stop promoting science experiments as the next big breakthrough. It's getting old. If they have something truly revolutionary it's news. Otherwise you're just wasting electricity.
Bump keys can be used to unlock just about any door, and yet crime statistics remain in line and have even been dropping in many parts of the world since the Internet has raised their profile in recent years.
This would be more interesting if someone were droning my neighborhood, but some of the hacks took days, not minutes to perform (and as others pointed out, affects individual receivers, not the entire system). Hardly a James Bond villain level of manipulation.
We haven't increased the size of the House of Representatives since the 1930s, but the size of the population has grown 3X since then. The House is supposed to grow (and shrink) with population, yet it has not for nearly 100 years. Are we to believe we have the same level of representation as our great grandparents? Just try to get your Representative on the phone, for example. You might be able to reach him if you have a campaign check, but even that's doubtful these days.
Why is this relevant to the conversation? Because $435 million is a drop in the bucket for most companies, while you'll likely never see your Representative in person, let alone sit down with him/her and voice your opinion. The corporations don't care about who or which party gets elected, just so they remember who cut them the million dollar donation.
But imagine if there were 1000 or more Representatives. Now how easy would it be for corps to buy the Congress? Yes, a lot of the activity would just switch over to the Senate, but both houses have to agree to get legislation passed.
I bought an LCD projector a few years ago after my trusty old 25" studio monitor died. I considered DLP at the time, but they gave me a headache. Bulb prices quickly went from expensive (over $100) to dirt cheap (less than $40) for my Sony, so I have to think they all came down in price over the years.
But with more devices wanting HDMI inputs and wanting a bigger 1080p display this year I decided to upgrade to a 50" plasma. Didn't even consider a projector, mostly due to problems with black levels and washout in bright rooms. The difference is astounding, although I'm sure a lot of it is just due to evolutionary progress overall. However if I were going much larger than 55" I would consider a projection system. Many of them can be set up for RP if you have a box and mirror available.
Little creature of love With two arms and two legs From a shop called Ikea Now they cover the bed
We are creatures of love, we are creatures of love We are creatures, creatures of love We are creatures, creatures of love From the toaster oven, a life is born We are creatures of love, we are creatures of love
Exactly. Why not take all this effort to crowdsource when they could just throw their backing to Jolla's MeeGo project or Ubuntu tablet edition? I mean, more power to them, but I don't think re-inventing the wheel again is going to be all that productive.
But that 2-3% is invisible to the customer. The only time I've seen any effort to point that out is with the few-and-far between gas stations that offer a cash discount. The only problem with them is that they tend to have a higher price to begin with.
And to quell the alarm from the AC below: http://www.wxqa.com/aprswxnetqc.html talks about the accuracy of the data and feedback to the user, along with a lot of good info about siting your station.
"I've seen CNN use video from a DIFFERENT fire when reporting on those, so use of stock reports for weather isn't far-fetched at all."
And the beauty of seeing that is being able to reach for the remote and change the channel if you don't feel you are getting accurate reporting. The only thing that keeps NOAA even slightly honest is the fact that you can pick up a reasonably accurate thermometer at Costco for a few bucks. Look at how economic data is reported, using formulas and estimation that are constantly revised and massaged until the desired number is produced (all in the name of accuracy). And when someone questions the number, the department that produced it claims you're too stupid to understand it.
However, the truth is the first thing that goes away in most cases of mainstream media, and has been since the invention of the printing press. I don't know what the answer is, but something like the Citizen Weather Observer Program might be a good model or starting point.
I'd say a 97% debasement of the dollar since 1972 would tend to cut into one's savings, if it were all in cash.
Now before you start bashing people who save money in cash, remember that for about 150 years or so it was abnormal for people to buy stocks and other "risky" investments. Most people held cash, bonds and CDs. Stock brokers were generally put in the same category as casino operators when it came to investing. It's only been in the last 30-40 years that high risk investing was considered acceptable for retirement savings or other long term financial planning.
This is the stated goal of Paul Krugman. Get Inflation up to 5 percent or 6 percent even. That is going to increase (he claims) employment. But prices lag the actual inflation, and wages lag the actual inflation even more.
In other words, Paul Krugman says you're making too much money. Since you're so expensive, you're taking jobs away from the poor unemployed souls who desperately want jobs instead of food stamps. And then your employer pumps up your productivity with the latest labor saving machinery (made by the lowest earners in the world), making matters even worse.
Now, your boss will eventually either get your productivity up so high that it will increase his earnings or he'll let you go. You probably won't get a chance to take a pay cut, unless you work for a small company that never heard of John Maynard Keynes.
Keynes' General Theory states "Whilst workers will usually resist a reduction of money-wages, it is not their practice to withdraw their labor whenever there is a rise in the price of wage-goods." In other words, you won't take a pay cut when times get bad, but you won't blame your boss when you can't afford food anymore. So, the wizards in Washington will just take care of that for you by debasing the currency to the point that your labor cost is more in line with the third world.
Just remember that when you hear politicians and economists talk about the eroding middle class.
OK, if they need money why not charge us $10 to use it? $10 is hardly a hardship for most of the world, and if it is, maybe set up a fund for "the 1%" to donate registration fees for the people who can't afford it. Might even improve loyalty, since instead of the cost of burning a CD, it's now the cost of a CD and $10. You paid for it, you might as well use it.
Much better than trying to come up with some screwy ad system.
*Disclaimer- I am not a financial expert, nor should anything I say be taken as advice. Contact someone who knows what the hell they're doing and they'll likely tell you to hand all your money to them for safe keeping.
Except that if you have sell triggers set based on normal movements of a stock and it happens to get caught up in a flash crash, it could easily execute at the low price then bounce and you'd never have time to react.
Actually, until the Ford administration there was a highly effective recycling program in place. But the end of building weapons and the collapse of the price of newly mined uranium make it cheaper to just buy new and let it sit... with 95% of the available energy still in place.
BTW That's one reason why Yucca mountain was chosen over the salt domes in New Mexico: You can easily retrieve the waste for reprocessing at Yucca, but if you bury it in the salt it will be much more difficult down the road.
Slashdot Mirror
"Today we have 'impossible' Star Trek tech in our pockets. "
We have a fairly believable simulation of star trek in our pockets. But communicators didn't need any infrastructure to span thousands of miles, even through solid rock. We've got a long way to go before that happens.
All you guys who are sitting in university labs, toiling away at yet another flexible, printable, super-cheap solar panel technology need to get out and actually bring something to market. I don't care who you work with (keep in mind British Petroleum is one of the largest producers of solar panels), how it's done, in fact none of the details impress me at this point. Just get something out the frickin' door! I'll celebrate when I can buy a roll of your solar panel material at the Home Depot (or at sparkfun.com) and spend the weekend screwing it to the side of my house. Until then, you don't have anything interesting. I've been hearing about these things for the last 20 years and we're still using expensive and fragile monocrystalline panels.
Oh, and you guys in the tech media: Stop promoting science experiments as the next big breakthrough. It's getting old. If they have something truly revolutionary it's news. Otherwise you're just wasting electricity.
Bump keys can be used to unlock just about any door, and yet crime statistics remain in line and have even been dropping in many parts of the world since the Internet has raised their profile in recent years.
This would be more interesting if someone were droning my neighborhood, but some of the hacks took days, not minutes to perform (and as others pointed out, affects individual receivers, not the entire system). Hardly a James Bond villain level of manipulation.
Fiat money grows exponentially. I'd rather it grow on trees. http://wiki.mises.org/wiki/Criticism_of_fractional_reserve_banking
We haven't increased the size of the House of Representatives since the 1930s, but the size of the population has grown 3X since then. The House is supposed to grow (and shrink) with population, yet it has not for nearly 100 years. Are we to believe we have the same level of representation as our great grandparents? Just try to get your Representative on the phone, for example. You might be able to reach him if you have a campaign check, but even that's doubtful these days.
Why is this relevant to the conversation? Because $435 million is a drop in the bucket for most companies, while you'll likely never see your Representative in person, let alone sit down with him/her and voice your opinion. The corporations don't care about who or which party gets elected, just so they remember who cut them the million dollar donation.
But imagine if there were 1000 or more Representatives. Now how easy would it be for corps to buy the Congress? Yes, a lot of the activity would just switch over to the Senate, but both houses have to agree to get legislation passed.
I bought an LCD projector a few years ago after my trusty old 25" studio monitor died. I considered DLP at the time, but they gave me a headache. Bulb prices quickly went from expensive (over $100) to dirt cheap (less than $40) for my Sony, so I have to think they all came down in price over the years.
But with more devices wanting HDMI inputs and wanting a bigger 1080p display this year I decided to upgrade to a 50" plasma. Didn't even consider a projector, mostly due to problems with black levels and washout in bright rooms. The difference is astounding, although I'm sure a lot of it is just due to evolutionary progress overall. However if I were going much larger than 55" I would consider a projection system. Many of them can be set up for RP if you have a box and mirror available.
Ham radio operators track down interference all the time. We also make a game of it, called foxhunting.
Cable companies also hunt down breaks in the cable using similar techniques.
Once these guys get the attention of the network operator, they'll be found quickly.
Little creature of love
With two arms and two legs
From a shop called Ikea
Now they cover the bed
We are creatures of love, we are creatures of love
We are creatures, creatures of love
We are creatures, creatures of love
From the toaster oven, a life is born
We are creatures of love, we are creatures of love
Crowdsourcing is the combination of your uncle borrowing money from your dad for his latest "hair-brained scheme" and a chain letter.
Exactly. Why not take all this effort to crowdsource when they could just throw their backing to Jolla's MeeGo project or Ubuntu tablet edition? I mean, more power to them, but I don't think re-inventing the wheel again is going to be all that productive.
But that 2-3% is invisible to the customer. The only time I've seen any effort to point that out is with the few-and-far between gas stations that offer a cash discount. The only problem with them is that they tend to have a higher price to begin with.
We already had one, but Nokia fell apart before they got it going.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N9
Hopefully Jolla will be able to produce something, but at this point it won't be much more than a tiny niche player.
Citizen Weather Observer Program:
http://www.wxqa.com/index.html
And to quell the alarm from the AC below:
http://www.wxqa.com/aprswxnetqc.html talks about the accuracy of the data and feedback to the user, along with a lot of good info about siting your station.
"I've seen CNN use video from a DIFFERENT fire when reporting on those, so use of stock reports for weather isn't far-fetched at all."
And the beauty of seeing that is being able to reach for the remote and change the channel if you don't feel you are getting accurate reporting. The only thing that keeps NOAA even slightly honest is the fact that you can pick up a reasonably accurate thermometer at Costco for a few bucks. Look at how economic data is reported, using formulas and estimation that are constantly revised and massaged until the desired number is produced (all in the name of accuracy). And when someone questions the number, the department that produced it claims you're too stupid to understand it.
However, the truth is the first thing that goes away in most cases of mainstream media, and has been since the invention of the printing press. I don't know what the answer is, but something like the Citizen Weather Observer Program might be a good model or starting point.
I'd say a 97% debasement of the dollar since 1972 would tend to cut into one's savings, if it were all in cash.
Now before you start bashing people who save money in cash, remember that for about 150 years or so it was abnormal for people to buy stocks and other "risky" investments. Most people held cash, bonds and CDs. Stock brokers were generally put in the same category as casino operators when it came to investing. It's only been in the last 30-40 years that high risk investing was considered acceptable for retirement savings or other long term financial planning.
This is the stated goal of Paul Krugman. Get Inflation up to 5 percent or 6 percent even. That is going to increase (he claims) employment. But prices lag the actual inflation, and wages lag the actual inflation even more.
In other words, Paul Krugman says you're making too much money. Since you're so expensive, you're taking jobs away from the poor unemployed souls who desperately want jobs instead of food stamps. And then your employer pumps up your productivity with the latest labor saving machinery (made by the lowest earners in the world), making matters even worse.
Now, your boss will eventually either get your productivity up so high that it will increase his earnings or he'll let you go. You probably won't get a chance to take a pay cut, unless you work for a small company that never heard of John Maynard Keynes.
Keynes' General Theory states "Whilst workers will usually resist a reduction of money-wages, it is not their practice to withdraw their labor whenever there is a rise in the price of wage-goods." In other words, you won't take a pay cut when times get bad, but you won't blame your boss when you can't afford food anymore. So, the wizards in Washington will just take care of that for you by debasing the currency to the point that your labor cost is more in line with the third world.
Just remember that when you hear politicians and economists talk about the eroding middle class.
OK, if they need money why not charge us $10 to use it? $10 is hardly a hardship for most of the world, and if it is, maybe set up a fund for "the 1%" to donate registration fees for the people who can't afford it. Might even improve loyalty, since instead of the cost of burning a CD, it's now the cost of a CD and $10. You paid for it, you might as well use it.
Much better than trying to come up with some screwy ad system.
Looking forward to seeing what the experts think it's worth on next week's Pawn Stars.
Then don't put it all in the stock market.
*Disclaimer- I am not a financial expert, nor should anything I say be taken as advice. Contact someone who knows what the hell they're doing and they'll likely tell you to hand all your money to them for safe keeping.
Except that if you have sell triggers set based on normal movements of a stock and it happens to get caught up in a flash crash, it could easily execute at the low price then bounce and you'd never have time to react.
There's the answer. Tech happens, get used to it. The key is getting the price down so everyone can play in the sandbox.
That's true. The TSA doesn't discriminate. Everyone gets prodded the same.
The holocaust was directed at some specific members of society.
http://www.thephantomcity.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/20070629simpsonscarbonrod.jpg
Surely those born with a small penis will be anxious to complain about that in court.
Ah yes, the case of "The size of the boat v. The Motion of the Ocean."
Actually, until the Ford administration there was a highly effective recycling program in place. But the end of building weapons and the collapse of the price of newly mined uranium make it cheaper to just buy new and let it sit... with 95% of the available energy still in place.
BTW That's one reason why Yucca mountain was chosen over the salt domes in New Mexico: You can easily retrieve the waste for reprocessing at Yucca, but if you bury it in the salt it will be much more difficult down the road.